The Beauty Product Ingredients I Want in My Medicine Cabinet

If you're like me, you read the label of every beauty product you buy. After all, what you put on your skin ultimately makes its way into your body. But interpreting the ingredients list on a beauty product is a little bit like trying to read a brand-new foreign language made up of 25-letter words. To give you a hand in the beauty product aisle, I'll tell you the ingredients I look for in my skin-care products.

1. Antioxidants. Now that I'm in my 30s, I want skin-care products that help me care for my skin today and prevent future damage, too. It's not hard to find beauty products with antioxidants, which ward off sun damage and do other handy things like brighten skin tone and smooth fine lines. Look for antioxidant-packed oils like olive and avocado on the ingredients list.

2. Wintergreen. Makeup artists would love to make you believe that I have perfect skin, but I'm not above getting the occasional blemish. When I buy acne products, I look for wintergreen extract on the label. Wintergreen is a natural source of salicylic acid, and I default to botanically based products.

3. Yerba mate leaf extract. Not only does yerba mate leaf contain a slew of awesome antioxidants, it acts as a natural anti-inflammatory. The more experts learn about the way skin functions, the more we find out what a drag inflammation really is. It's at the root of all sorts of skin issues, from acne to eczema to dark spots.

What do you look for in your beauty products? Tell me in the comments section!